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Agricultural Sustainability
Strategies for Assessment
First Edition
- Gary W vanLoon - Queens University, Kingston, Canada
- S G Patil - University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad
- L B Hugar - College of Agriculture, Raichur
March 2005 | 281 pages | SAGE India
For all those working in the areas of agricultural development and food security, this book offers ways to carry out a comprehensive assessment of agricultural sustainability in a micro-region.
The authors believe there are six categories of assessment necessary for an holistic evaluation - productivity, stability, efficiency, durability, compatibility and equity. They emphasize the need to make a selection of the most appropriate indicators and develop new ones. Finally, they review a variety of strategies used in different settings around the world and highlight the common features in all the assessments.
PART ONE: AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable Development
Agricultural Sustainability
Levels of Sustainability
Studying, Measuring, Assessing Agricultural Sustainability
Ecosystems
PART TWO: SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS
Purpose and Properties of Indicators
Steps in Developing Indicators
Desirable Properties of Individual Indicators
Quantification and Scaling of Indicators
PART THREE: INDICATORS FOR ASSESSING AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY
Productivity
Stability
Efficiency
Durability
Compatibility
Equity
Evaluation of an Agricultural Sustainability Assessment Protocol
PART FOUR: STUDIES OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
A Study of Sustainability and Peasant Farming Systems in Zimbabwe
A Malaysian Study of Farmer Sustainability
Sustainable Land Management in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand
An Integrated Crop Management Approach to Sustainable Agriculture
Indicators for Comparing Performance of Irrigated Agricultural Systems
Developing Indicators
Sustainability in the Tungabhadra Project Area of South India
Assessments of Sustainability over Broad Regions